


you know i'll always go back to where you are

by hhesitantt



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, M/M, baeksoo!, im horrible at tagging but imm update them as i update, mortal!?baekhyun, on going, ongoing, polyamorous, sechandae, spooky woods soo!, this should be finished my early april !, wizard!kyungsoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 13:22:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17746688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhesitantt/pseuds/hhesitantt
Summary: ‘You have to promise. You have to stay here for the next three nights, it's part of this verbal contract now, love.’The voice slithered its way down Baekhyun’s spine, raising tension where it went, like a cool breath blowing down his shoulders.He took a deep breath.orBaekhyun’s  pushed into the forest by his friends looking for a spot to set up camp for the weekend but ends up finding a forever favorite place and a beautiful voice to go along with it.





	1. everybody knows you’re not that tough

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my wizard!au baeksoo!!!! the title of the chapter is from "hands all over" by maroon 5 and the title of the work is from "Missed Call ft. Chancellor" by Jiselle!!!! see the notes at the end for more ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

* * *

* * *

They were in the car.

Something settled heavily in his chest as they drove. The car was a little cramped considering it was, max, a five person jeep and four of those spots were currently occupied. Baekhyun let out a deep breath as Chanyeol cackled in the front seat laughing to something Sehun was saying about some of his dorm mates playing chicken outside of their building earlier.    
  
It was cloudy outside and the rain had just started falling out when Jongdae's shoulder shoved into his, "Dude, did you hear about Tao mooning his RA last night?"   
  
“Chanyeol watched him drink himself stupid but no one could get to him in time after Luhan dared him to moon Minseok," Sehun added between giggles.    
  
“I've never seen Luhan cry from laughing so hard before, it was sort of terrifying!" Chanyeol said, slapping a hand on the wheel and wheezing.    
  


“But did you see Minseok’s face! I’m putting my bet in that they’ll have banged by the time we get back,” Jongdae smirked as he nudged Baekhyun’s shoulder.

 

Baekhyun chuckled as Chanyeol gasped out a, “No way! I’ll bet you twenty bucks negative,”

 

“Deal,” Jongdae grinned as he leaned forward and kissed below Chanyeol’s ear. Chanyeol’s giggles filled the car as he tried to knock him away with his shoulder. 

  
All of a sudden, the sky opened up and the rain poured, and chanyeol gripped the wheel with white knuckles as Baekhyun looked out at the trees flying by.    
  


To explain the situation, the four of them had made plans a couple of weeks ago to go camping. Long story short, Sehun and Chanyeol admitted their feelings for Jongdae to each other and came to the revolutionary conclusion that love can be be between more than two people but this was unfortunately after they had all made plans. Baekhyun had tried to back out, he  _ really  _ did, but they wouldn’t hear of it.

 

However, this became extremely awkward for their four-wheeling professional who was invited along to this camping extravaganza when they said they “felt bad” and claimed it “wasn't going to be the same” without Baekhyun. And so that's how he ended up sitting in the back seat of the Jeep, four wheeling and ready for the weekend to end already.

 

In all fairness, they were just being kind. But in Baekhyun’s defense, he  _ should _ have taken his leave under the excuse of a exam on Monday or some studying to do for his music theory final. 

 

Guess he'll know for next time.

 

They rain impossibly fell harder.

 

“Chanyeol we should pull over,” Sehun began, picking at the skin around his nails nervously.

 

“What? We're almost there hun,” Chanyeol glanced over and chanced a smile. “We have  _ maybe _ an hour left!” He drummed his fingers excitedly against the wheel as Jongdae started shaking his leg and tapping his fingers against the window.

 

“Nah, yeol we  _ really _ need to pull over, the roads too curvy and wet for this,” Jongdae chimed in. “It's okay if we get to the grounds later, we should wait out the rain, babe.”

 

Chanyeol sighed as Baekhyun looked out as the trees gradually got thicker. So now they're up, in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, and it's raining buckets. The car began to slow.

 

“Ooh! I think there's a rest stop right up here…or maybe it's just a pull off?” Chanyeol questioned, the tires hitting the gravel drive. 

 

“See? We can just wait out the rain yeol, it's not like we're in a rush.” Jongdae leaned up to whisper something to the two, and kissing Sehun’s cheek. 

 

And so wait they did.

 

The rain pounded the vehicle for over an hour before Chanyeol piped up, “Guys, we would’ve already been there by now we should just get back on the road..”

 

“If anything, right now’s even worse because the grounds all soaked through,” Jongdae warned. “We’re sort of in a hilly area and there’s no way out if we get caught in a mudslide, babe.”

 

Baekhyun let out a sigh and leaned his head against the window when he noticed a dark green snippet of  _ something _ slide through the woods several hundred feet outside from his window. His eyes narrowed and his neck straightened as he looked into the darker forest.

 

“We just need to go! All we need is to set up camp and then we’re officially camping which is what we came up here to do!” Chanyeol whined as he started looking at the weather on his phone and then triumphantly flashes it to the rest of them, “And it’s not even supposed to stop until late tomorrow afternoon! And-”

 

“Wow we really chose a shitty weekend to go camping,” sehun grumbled as he looked through the individual hour forecasts for the weather on his phone.

 

“WAIT!” The car silenced and jongdae squinted through the windshield in front of the vehicle. Baekhyun held his breath waiting for him to say he say the dark green thing he saw earlier but after a long pause….

 

“I think there’s a clearing right over there guys… It looks like there might even be a shelter of sorts too,” jongdae squints some more and through the fog and the rain, baekhyun can see the vague outline of what he’s talking about.

 

“I don’t know about that,” sehun starts looking around for signs and maps. “That clearing doesn’t even look like it’s on our campsite map babe,” he opens the brochure, flipping and paging through it looking for where they were currently parked.

 

“There’s not even a sign for where we are right now,” Chanyeol worries out loud and starts worrying on his bottom lip. Baekhyun stares intently out the window.

 

And there it was again. The flash of dark green but this time it looks a little more dark navy. Baekhyun heaves in a breath, “Guys-”

 

“It’s supposed to rain til seven tomorrow guys, we’re literally just going to be sitting in tents, in the rain,” jongdae whines next to him. Thunder rolls in the far distance.

 

He still can’t get a clear view on what it is. Maybe he’s imagining things?

 

“Yep, absolutely no marking of where we are on these maps. Can anyone see a ranger map around the car somewhere?” Sehun asks as he’s still analyzing the brochure and reading the footnotes. Baekhyun can see nothing and is still watching the exact place he saw, ‘he  _ thinks _ he saw’ he corrects himself, and it seems it’s disappeared. Gone. Just like that. 

 

“Nothing over here, baekhyun?” Jongdae looks to him.

 

“Nope, nothing.”

 

“Nothing over here either,” chanyeol pitches in.

 

“Well, there’s nothing we can really do. I guess we should go check it-” Sehun starts.

 

“I mean we  _ could _ just  _ go  _ like I said earlier and set up at the camp that’s  _ on the map _ but ignore me,” Chanyeol starts waving his arms as much as he could in the limited space.

 

“I GUESS we should go check it out though?” Sehun yells over the whining. “I mean what harm could it do? Does anyone have their raincoat on them?” Baekhyun looks down. Baekhyun does.

 

He scratched his head. 

 

He also does  _ not  _ want to walk around the woods right now, oh  _ hell  _ no. 

 

Jongdae looks down too, oh no. “Baekhyun does!” 

 

Three pairs of eyes turn to him. “Oh my god guys. Seriously?”

 

Nothing. 

 

“ _ Seriously?”  _

 

“What are you scared or something?” Chanyeol’s eyes taunt him in the rear-view mirror. He does that weird eyebrow thing too, dammit. Jongdae starts grinning and sehun shrugs as baekhyun reaches down to grab his coat.

 

His mind is a swirl of  _ fuck you guys, honestly _

 

_ ♡ ♡ ♡ _

 

He yanks the hood over his head and reaches behind him for his rainboots he threw in the trunk last minute (was he the  _ only one  _ who checked the goddamn weather in this car) and yanks them on as well.

 

What his coat and boots didn’t brace him for though, was how cold the rain was. 

 

He slammed the door and stomped in the direction of the vague outline he and jongdae saw earlier. He pauses to glance in either direction for a ranger forest map of some sort to tell him what's ahead only to be greeted with the sight of: nothing but rain and forest that seems to fade out with the fog creeping in.

 

“What the hell,” he mutters under his breath and hissing as water splashed up onto his jeans.

 

He continues walking through the mush of soaked through grass and wraps his arms around himself to try and contain some warmth when a weird warming feeling begins to spread throughout him… almost like, dare he say it, arms wrapping around him. From where, he has no clue. 

 

He looks up after watching his boots sink into the ground and hears a voice from somewhere, ‘ _ You’ll be okay. I’ll take care of you.’  _ The water that seemed to seep into his boots disappears.

 

He smiles a small smile and then it hits him: this is weird as  _ fuck _ . 

 

He looks back at the car and can’t even see his friends inside, he’s too far. It’s just a black shadow in the distance. He should go back, say he didn't find anything. 

 

But when he turns around he gasps: all the fog that was sitting in front of him seconds prior is gone. he can clearly see the small shelter jongdae thought he saw earlier. It’s even tinier up close, barely even a one stall bathroom. More importantly however, is right beyond the little shelter is a clearing, lightly surrounded with woods, and then even heavier forest as one gets farther away from the clearing. 

 

“..oh my god” he starts walking before he can even think rationally. It’s too far from the car and it’s still stupidly raining, but he doesn’t even think to hesitate. Finally, a break. 

 

He sees the small little bench by the even smaller fire pit meant for summer bonfires, and he crouches to see if there’s anything in the pit when something under the leftover ash catches his eye. A stone of sorts.  _ How odd,  _ he thinks. 

 

He picks it up and flips it several times in his hand before bringing it up to look even more closely at it. It’s a beautiful viridian hue green that has specks of cadmium yellow and,  _ is that gold? _ , he thinks. It's about the size of a paperweight and feels solid, smooth in his palm.

 

He stands up and looks around searching for evidence that someone was recently here to justify him taking the stone when he notices something even more odd: the cleared area is completely dry.

 

_ What the hell. _

 

Spinning in a circle, he eyes where the ground gets darker with wet. How did he not notice the halt of the pouring rain? How is the rain not hitting him from where he is? He glances up at the sky and tries to spot a weird cover that maybe he missed.

 

All he spots is the branches leaning from the trees around him, reaching for the sky. The breeze hits his face, carrying the smell of rain but no merit. 

 

How is this even possible?

 

Looking out at the field, it’s like looking at the rain falling on the driveway from a garage. It’s still pouring, he can smell it and he can feel the slight breeze it carries, but it refuses to hit him. He chances another glance at the sky, still coming up with nothing. 

 

‘ _ I told you I’d take care of you.’  _

 

Baekhyun froze stock still. 

 

It’s the most beautiful voice he’s ever heard yet it drags goosebumps up his neck and arms. 

 

He’s being watched. Stalked.  _ Preyed upon. _

 

He needs to run but he feels conflict at the same time: why does he feel so  _ comforted _ ? So comfortable? 

 

Baekhyun turned in circles trying to find a source of the gaze he feels burning into his skin, but that’s makes him realize what’s even worse: it’s burning everywhere, it feels omnipotent, all-encompassing to the point that he doesn’t know what direction he’s even  _ supposed  _ to be looking in.

 

Before he can think twice, he moves to bolt. He pockets the stone and makes lunging steps for the old jeep he already misses only to be… trapped.

 

“Let me _ go!”  _ Baekhyun threw his body against what seemed to be arresting him, barring him from the outside.

 

He pounded his arms on the wall of sorts and shouldered it until he noticed vague figures a bit away: It was Chanyeol and Jongdae, bumping shoulders trying to stay together. 

 

“Chanyeol! Jongdae!” He yelled and kicked at the barrier, yet he made no visible dent in what held him hostage. The rain had lightened up to the point where they should be able to hear him. 

 

‘ _ Stop, love you’re going to hurt yourself.’ _

 

“Then let me  _ go!”  _ Baekhyun screamed, still throwing himself at the barrier, only pausing to try and find something else to throw at it.

 

‘ _ It won’t be broken by your strength, let me take care of you.’ _

 

“How about you just let me go! I didn’t ask to be here buddy,” he sat down against the barrier after he noticed the figures turn around and start retreating. He gently began banging his head against the wall. 

 

‘ _ On one condition.’  _

 

“Dude, that’s not even fair, you’re the one who’s captured me!”

 

‘ _ You’re the one trying to steal my stone.” _

 

“Oh?! You want your  _ stone? _ Why didn’t you just say so!” He grabbed for the stone in his pocket and went to lay it back where he found it but felt an odd- almost hand-like- force push him back.

 

‘ _ It doesn’t work that way, you tried to  _ steal _ and therefore you owe me something’ _

 

“Since when has it worked that way?!” He looked around and began picking dry blades of grass out of the ground.

 

‘ _ You wouldn’t understand,’  _

 

Baekhyun looked up and gasped; the dark green figure from earlier was back: and staring right at him from far away. Too far to make any figure guesses other than it was short, perhaps shorter than himself. 

 

It disappeared in a flash. 

 

“Try me.” 

 

‘ _ No, love you owe me something, you know it as well as I.’ _

 

“If you so insist, just tell me what! I’ll tell you whether or not I agree!” Baekhyun slid his eyes to his left: there it was again in his peripheral vision in an outer line of trees.

 

‘ _ Tell your friends to camp here, I’ll take care of you guys.’ _

 

“Are you fuckin’ serious? We were going to stay here anyway! You don’t have to protect us either, just leave us alone, but yeah sure just let me go!”

 

‘ _ You have to promise.  _ You _ have to stay here for the next three nights, it's part of this verbal contract now, love.’  _

 

The voice slithered its way down Baekhyun’s spine, raising tension where it went, like a cool breath blowing down his shoulders.

 

He took a deep breath. 

 

He weighed the possibilities in his head. Of course there was the chance they could be harmed, but in all honesty the sun was looking like it was getting ready to set and they wouldn't really be able to drive to that other campsite in the night anyways. They could never be sure with what kind of wildlife comes out near the roads at night and so if they did decide to go to the other campsite anyways, what's the big difference? This unmarked one has a bathroom and shower stall, it also has a clear opening and a fireplace. 

 

And really, what else was he  _ supposed _ to do? What other option did he have? He could hope his friends would just leave him and get out from this weird situation… but he doesn't want them to leave him. He needs them to get home, for class on Tuesday. 

 

He takes a deeper breath and exhales slowly.

 

“Sure.” The syllable slips off his tongue and he falls back, head hitting soft, wet ground.

  
  



	2. feet on the ground but i hate it down there

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baekhyun has a dream and wakes up at 10:20 a.m.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii! chapter title quote is from Everything Goes (Wow) by Broods! if your back again, thanks for comin back! this is a ~5.1k update and i wrote,,,, 3000+ words today oops! thanks for reading n hope u enjoy! here it is!

Baekhyun stumbled to his feet as he grasped mentally that he was free. He could  _ leave.  _

 

The ‘contract’ rang in the back of his head but he was too busy taking off sprinting to mind it too much. The stone jumped in time with his feet trying to pounce across the mushy soil.

 

He was  _ free, _ thank  _ god. _

 

He ran past the forest opening and the weird shack of a bathroom and shower stall, not stopping until he reached the Jeep, which his friends had jumped out of, by the time he reached it. 

 

“Thank god, you’re safe hyung, jeez we were worried sick about you,” Sehun grinned as he hugged him tight and then punching him in the shoulder and stepping back as Chanyeol began to screech. 

 

“Dude, where  _ were  _ you! We went out looking for you and Jongdae probably screwed up his throat yelling so loudly for you!” Chanyeol tackled him into a hug as Jongdae threw down the seat to get out.

 

“Yeah! Where the  _ HELL  _ did you go?” Jongdae started lifting his jacket to see if he was harmed, if he was okay.

 

“No, guys I’m fine, but we have to  _ go.  _ Like now!” Baekhyun began pulling them towards the vehicle. 

 

_ ‘You can’t leave, dear.’ _

 

Baekhyun dragged Chanyeol by the ear to the car as Jongdae climbed back into the jeep. 

 

“Guys something was holding me captive somehow! I saw you guys and it wouldn’t let me go,” he shows them his banged up knuckles and the beginning of the bruises forming on his arms from pounding on that wall. “I saw you right in front of me looking for me and I yelled for you guys as well but i don’t think you could see me!”

 

“... guys, the car isn’t starting,” Chanyeol starts pulling the key out and putting it back in, turning it with his foot pressing against the brake.

 

“And I found this stone! It told me I was trying to steal its stone so I owed it something!” Baekhyun pulled the stone out of his pocket and shows it to his friends. 

 

Except it was  _ quite  _ different than the last time he had seen it when he fumbled it while his head had rested against the invisible wall that had trapped him in. 

 

_ ‘You sealed the promise when you agreed, love, you physically won’t be able to depart.’ _

 

A black inky color spitting in the middle of the stone where gold flakes used to be. It started to cloud the stone, oddly mixing with the viridian, making a darker forest green as the seconds passed. 

 

“I repeat! The vehicle is not starting!” Chanyeol shouts and starts pounding the wheel.

 

“Calm down! I think we need to evaluate the situation first, and then we can see what to do from there.” Jongdae exhales from the backseat and puts his hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder and says with a lilt of sarcasm, “In other words, I understand the car won’t start, deep breath.”

 

“Well other than that, we’re fine on gas because we have some spare in the back. Baekhyun what do you know about the thing that captured you?” Sehun up spoke as if he didn’t know whether or not it captured him. 

 

“It said that because I tried to steal the stone I owed it something…”

 

“Wait, you talked to it?! What did it look like? Was it a person? You stole that stone from someone?” Chanyeol’s eyebrows shot up as ideas popped into his head and he rambled off his questions like it was natural. 

 

Jongdae gripped his shoulder tighter and Baekhyun flipped the stone in his hand, running his thumb over the smooth surface. “It’s okay Chanyeol. What else did it say to you Baekhyun? What did it say you owed it?”

 

_ It has a beautiful voice,  _ is what he wanted to spit out. Instead, “Well, ‘It’ sounded like a guy if I’m honest, but anyways it told me that since I tried to ‘steal’ his stone, that i owed him something if I wanted to get free! It said basically that it wanted us to stay on these campgrounds for the weekend and that it would protect us if we did.”

 

“‘Cause that doesn’t sound weird at all…” Sehun grumbled and picked at his nail beds. “You didn’t say whether or not you saw it or not, did you?”

 

“No, I just kept seeing a dark green thing flashing around but I never really got a clear view of him. Maybe he was wearing a cloak of sorts and that’s why none of you saw him either?” Baekhyun looked around at the three of them and began to question whether he really even saw something at all. Maybe he  _ was _ crazy. 

 

“So you just heard this  _ voice _ and you didn’t hear wear it was coming from or anything? It was pouring rain, man, it had to be screaming at you and you couldn’t even figure out which direction it was coming from?” Jongdae looked at Baekhyun with incredulous eyes, throwing  his hands up in the air in frustration.

 

“No! ‘Dae, I spun in circles looking for where it was coming from but it was so weird it felt like it wasn’t coming from anywhere  _ and _ coming everywhere at the  _ same time. _ ” Baekhyun looked down at the stone in his palm and flipped it several times before looking up again. “I swear I couldn’t see anything besides the flash of a dark green  _ thing _ , whether or not that was a person, I don’t know….”

 

“Did it have the figure of a person potentially?” Sehun offered, hoping to get somewhere else. 

 

“I couldn’t tell, it was too far away…” Baekhyun trailed off and looked down again, dragging his thumb nail over the stone soothingly. 

 

“Well it did say it’d take care of us…. What is it protecting us from?”

 

_ ‘I’m telling you you don’t want to know.’  _

 

“No, not really.” Baekhyun tried to tell himself all the reasons for why he shouldn’t,  _ wouldn’t, _ tell his friends that he could still hear the voice. 

 

He couldn’t convince himself to do it, it felt like a nice warming secret that he still carried this beautiful voice around in his head that slipped down his spine like black coffee on a Sunday morning. 

 

He wondered quietly how he was hearing them, how this thing was listening in. He snapped his neck to look out the window to see a dark green cloak and a pale face watching their vehicle from the shadows. 

 

_ ‘Yes, it’s me.’  _ He had huge, round eyes that watched him under bushy brows worrying a soft expression, a focused expression. Thick lips rested below a slight, button nose

 

He gasped so lightly, that the others turned to see what he was looking at.”What?” Chanyeol turned around to see nothing as Baekhyun watched him flash and disappear. 

 

The sky decided at that moment to open up and drop buckets of rain, pouring from the sky as lightning sounded in the distance. This again. 

 

“Nothing, I thought I saw lightning earlier and now I know why, ha.” Baekhyun looked in the distance searching for the face again but remained searching because of fog thee rain dragged down with it as it pounded the tar outside of his door.

 

“Well, I mean, did you ever feel unsafe?  _ Should _ we just camp here?” Chanyeol suggested, looking around at the three of them. 

 

“I mean, don’t specifically have any objections. It’s probably safest to just stay here…” Jongdae offered.

 

“Yeah, and I remember seeing a shower and a bathroom stall so at least that would be taking care of the hygienic worries.” Sehun says before squinting out at the rain again, trying to see the shelter in the distance. 

 

So it’s up to Baekhyun. 

 

_ ‘Love, I’ll take care of you don’t worry, but I’m warning you that you physically won’t be able to leave. Just stay, let me protect you, dear.’ _

 

There he is again, that beautiful voice. He closed his eyes and sighed. 

 

“I even found a clearing to set up camp earlier, too.” Baekhyun explained, thinking about the clearing where he was held hostage, where he found the stone currently emitting sparkly dark red inky color from the center within the stone again. 

 

What could possibly go wrong?

  
  


✥ ✥ ✥

 

They began unpacking their belongings from the trunk, all of them grabbing their hiking backpacks loaded with their tents (a.k.a. A huge tent for Sehun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae, and a decent sized tent tacked on Baekhyun’s backpack) and draping themselves with necessities that filled a couple of rucksacks for the four of them. 

 

The rain had lightened slightly but all of them agreed that they should set up tents before it goes completely dark since sleeping in the car was too cramped for anyone to be comfortable. 

 

All Baekhyun had concluded was that this was going to be an odd weekend.

 

The trekked along the mush after they had parked further (and correctly) in the lot after deciding to just stay there for the weekend and pulled everything they had wanted from the vehicle. Chanyeol whined as his feet sank into the mud the rain made of the grass, saying they should've just gone to the other sit where there’s more gravel getting to and from the camping site. 

 

“I do have to admit, it  _ is  _ quite beautiful here rather than the pictures I’ve seen of the other park,” Jongdae yells over the rain and points at the pretty greens of the forest that begin to surround them as they trek farther and farther into the woods in search of the clearing. 

 

The good thing however, was the humidity was at a minimum because of how north they were and the lack of sunshine pairing with cooler temperatures. 

 

Baekhyun steadily lead them to the clearing without telling them. Jongdae and Chanyeol wandered around looking for the clearing Baekhyun promised earlier. 

 

He glanced around, squinting through the rain still pounding the mush at their feet, trying to see that dark green cloak one more time. 

“Hey! ‘Yeol, ‘Dae! It looks like there’s a clearing right up here with a fire pit and everything!” Sehun shouted over the rain as the image of it rang in his mind, still fresh from a few hours prior when he was banging senselessly on an invisible cage. 

 

_ ‘This looks familiar,’  _ crooned the sensual voice. Baekhyun smiled and laughed under his breath.  _ ‘Your smile is beautiful, you know?’  _ And he spluttered as he failed to understand why a blush began to rise to his cheeks. 

 

He look at his shoes as he walked towards the pit where he first found the stone, seeing a small indent for where it had lain in the ashes. 

 

The four of them looked around and Baekhyun noticed that the ground was still somewhat dry from when he was held. He looked out and heard the rain calming before they noticed the ground wasn’t that mushy where they were standing. It wasn’t even nearly soaked through yet. 

 

‘How did he even  _ do  _ that?’ Baekhyun questioned internally as he looks up at the rapidly darkening sky only for raindrop to smack him on the cheek. 

 

✥ ✥ ✥

 

So they set up camp. They threw down their bags and if anyone noticed the ground wasn’t thoroughly soaked, they surely didn’t say anything. Maybe they attributed it to it bearing deeper in the woods or whatnot, but it still at this point nothing makes any sense to Baekhyun. 

 

He’s not going to lie: he felt eyes on him as he set up. He knew who it was too, which endeared him and creeped him out at the same time, but for appearances’ sakes he just threw out the ends of his tent to pull up and apart with the stakes. 

 

Chanyeol was laughing and yelling fake cries of pain as Jongdae hit him with a stake (he had stage whispered something along the lines of, “Guys, now we can check tent sex off our bucket list!” Only for Jongdae to choke out, “We!”  _ Thump _ “Don’t!”  _ Thump  _ “Have!”  _ Thump  _ “A!”  _ Thump “Sex bucket list!” Thump thump thump)  _

 

_ ‘Your friends are endearing,’  _ Baekhyun smiled as he continued pushing the canvas until it lined up as he had seen it when they went camping a couple of months ago. He pulls the string and thinks ‘Ta-da!’ as it stands up perfectly.  _ ‘Nice!’  _

 

Baekhyun looks over off to his right and sees  _ him _ grinning, finally a clear view of him. Could he hear his thoughts? Maybe he could only listen in on conversations. 

 

Baekhyun squints at him and thinks he wouldn’t mind looking at that smile for the weekend. 

 

✥ ✥ ✥

 

When night falls, they all use the flashlights to see each other and determine that it’s definitely too wet to try and even start a campfire tonight so they settle on feasting on the beef jerky  and protein bars in their bags. Baekhyun hung out with the group in their tent for a little bit, all of them having lip-sync battles in their (“Guys, what the  _ fuck _ this tent is  _ huge  _ jesus!”) huge tent. 

 

Until the fun was over when Sehun began creeping a hand up Chanyeol’s thigh.

 

“Save my eyes! My purity! My  _ innocence!”  _ Baekhyun laughed as he ran to his own tent only to put on a playlist for the night when he realized he was alone. 

 

He curled up and began playing games on his phone until he drifted off to sleep, hearing the wind rustling the trees outside that calmed him into slumber. And for the first time in many years, Baekhyun dreamed.

 

❁ ❁ ❁

 

_ In his dream, Baekhyun awoke to birds singing outside his tent. He woke up in the exact same position he fell asleep with his phone playing the same low indie music that was on when he drifted off.  _

 

_ He sat up, letting the sleeping bag and quilt he brought along fall to his waist. He unzipped his tent to sunlight glittering through the branches and lighting up the clearing.  _

 

_ Slowly, he gets up and gets dressed, pulling on his thick stockings and hiking boots. He opens the tent again and walks over to the others’ tent only to find them all still passed out.  _

 

_ “I guess it’s just me,” he said quietly as he made to go get his toothbrush to rinse up for the morning.  _

 

_ After brushing his teeth and munching on a protein bar, he pulls on his jacket from the day before and writes a note to the group: _

 

__ Good morning guys! I’m going out for a walk, just wait for me to come back. It’s 8:14 

now so get worried if I’m not back by 10:20. 

Sleep well,

Baekhyun

 

_ He stuck the note in their tent on the floor by the opening before walking out in the direction he last saw the figure in the dark cloak. _

 

_ Once he wanders enough into the random, the forestry grows thicker until he finds a very (very, very) rough path. Evergreens and Pines surround him as he treks further, olive colored moss lining the ground along with fallen leaves and random branches. Up ahead, he sees a huge, rotting, and fallen tree blocking the way he was going and feels a gust of wind pushing him towards it. _

 

_ He looks at the ground to see faint footprints, shrouded by leaves and debris, leading down the path. He walks determinedly towards the decaying mass, muttering, “Finally a clue! I only have ‘til 10:20, jeez.” _

 

_ But when he reaches the tree, the footsteps just… disappear.  _

 

_ He studies the tree and determines no easy way over it either. He checks to see whether he could just go around it, buts it’s so massive, there’s no easy way. Forestry’s growing too close for an easy journey around so he lifts up a leg and sinks it into the rotting mess, trying to somehow find a step to push himself over. _

 

_ Nothing. _

 

_ The rot just clumps under his boot. He moves to the right a couple of feet and tries again, getting slightly more solid rot that forces him to try and get another step, only for him to sink  _ into  _ the tree. He tries one more huge step up to hopefully leap over, only for the  _ strongest  _ gust of wind he’s ever felt in his life, literally push him over the tree.  _

 

_ He rolls over himself, tumbling and hitting his head on a stone. He opens his eyes and looks around in awe.  _

 

_ It’s a whole other world.  _

 

_ It’s still a forest, but so so  _ **_so_ ** _ beautiful.  _

 

_ There’s mushrooms ten foot tall growing around him and emitting that soft viridian hue, a paler version of the original color of the stone he found. There’s what seem to be redwoods surrounding him, somehow prospering in the cooler temperatures of northern Montana. Every type of huge tree he had ever heard of was somewhere in the midst, towering pines, huge evergreens, and the  _ **_moss_ ** _. The moss was light and fluffy and covering the ground where baby mushrooms were growing, tropical leaves of Amazonian plants filling so much space, Baekhyun could hardly think.  _

 

_ He sits up and notices the path he was walking down was now paved with thousands,  _ millions _ of the green stones, so similar to the one he’d found, currently laying in his tent.  _

 

_ “Oh my god,” He rubbed his palms over the mud grouted stones. Sunlight still trickled into the forest slightly, and he looks down the path to see  _ **_so_ ** _ many animals. Stags, deer, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, opossums, even a bear in the distance. There’s frogs and lizards skirting up the trees and all around the plants who have halted just to stare him down. The animals all have (oddly) dark, navy blue eyes, and all of them are staring directly at him.  _

 

_ He stares them back, just as hard, remembering not to show fear because as Chanyeol had stated on the way up there, “They can sense that shit! I swear!”  _

 

_ This goes on for a moment until he hears a rustling directly besides him, so he glances over only to see a small raccoon pop out, dark navy eyes and everything, and stare him down to. _

 

_ He was almost expecting this until it opens it mouth and says, “We’ve been waiting for you.”  _

 

_ Baekhyun looks up and all the animals at the same time repeat it, a loud, almost overbearing, mind-bogglingly loud, “We’ve all been waiting for you.”  _

 

_ He looks down at the raccoon and says, “Well, how’d you know I was coming?” At this, he feels all the animals’ eyes drop from him as they go back to whatever they were doing prior.  _

 

_ “He’s dreamt of you, we’re all connected and we felt his connection to you, your Majesty.” The raccoon blinks at him and then does a slight bow before turning and beginning to walk away.  _

 

_ At that moment, he notices an odd diamond-like pattern littering all the animals around him. One large diamond with small little diamonds surrounding it on the animals’ backs, no matter how big or small, and they all glowed the same slight viridian.  _

 

_ “Who has dreamt of me, may I ask?” He asks to nothing in particular.  _

 

_ All eyes are on him once more. “The Protector, your Majesty.” _

 

_ Perhaps that's who green cloak guy is. ‘Nice to know he has an ominous name too, I guess,’ Baekhyun thinks as he clicks his boots together, thinking.  _

 

_ He gets up, and looking around in awe as he stumbles down the beautiful path. How was this so hidden from the outside? So stunning, and it was hidden in plain sight.  _

 

_ As he walks, the forest continues to be just as beautiful as it was in the beginning, only he eventually finds an awe-ful pond that a small stream snaked into. Even the water was a dark shade of viridian. _

 

_ ‘Maybe this Protector guy has a favorite color or something,’ Baekhyun thought as he continued stumbling down the path.  _

 

_ He doesn’t know and couldn’t say how long he wandered slowly down this path, reaching down to scratch rabbits that rubbed his ankles or random stray cats who circled between his legs as he progressed. He believes it was a mouse of some sort, the creature  that had crawled up his arm and caused him to giggle, but after picking it up, he glanced up to see perhaps the cutest (and expensive but well worn) looking house he had ever seen. _

 

_ It could probably be explained as a fortress of glass or something of that sort, but it was a larger building with an exterior made of gridded glass, like a greenhouse covering an interior that also had so much glass.  _

 

_ It was a darker sky blue in color, the bits of siding within the glass, and the huge windows within revealed plants hanging from the ceiling in every room visible. It primarily showcased a living room of sorts, a smaller black couch thing and a coffee table surrounded by walls of bookcases, filled to the brim with books, some spines looking about to fall out. The house looked to be two stories tall and showcased a small chimney that had a small bit of smoke coming out of it.  _

 

_ “Well, how cute.” Baekhyun said quietly as he smiled. He admired the outer greenhouse too, plants curling up stakes that were planted right by the glass perimeter on the inside. There was a small garden on the left of the house, brimming with what looked like carrot leaves and potato sprouts. So. Adorable.  _

 

_ “Finally, you’ve arrived!” Before Baekhyun could whip around to see who said that in the sweet voice that had rang in his head all yesterday since he was trapped, arms wrapped around his waist is a gentle hug and feeling a face press in right below the base of his neck. _

 

_ He couldn’t bring himself to be frightened either, what was wrong with him.  _

 

_ When the arms release, Baekhyun turns around to see this mystery man only to find him about the same height, if not a little shorter, and no longer wearing that dark green cloak.  _

 

_ “I’m Kyungsoo,” He began with a warm smile. “This is my house! How do you fancy it?” He gestured to the structure behind Baekhyun and his head spun as butterflies somehow erupted in his stomach.  _

 

_ This man was perhaps (definitely) the most stunning man Baekhyun had ever seen. He had these large eyes, reminding him of owl eyes framed by thick black glasses. Kyungsoo had thick, heart shaped lips that showed so when he smiled.  _

 

_ He had a loose gray T-shirt on and light blue jeans rolled up around heavy duty boots. His hair was black and had been shaved short recently.  _

 

_ Baekhyun tried the name on his tongue, “Kyungsoo?”  _

 

_ The man in question nodded. “Are you Baekhyun, or have I guessed wrong?”  _

 

_ Baekhyun smiled, liking the sound of his name on this adorable man’s lips. “No, you guessed correctly.” _

 

_ “Would you like to come in for some tea?” Kyungsoo offered as he raised an eyebrow until Baekhyun nodded. “We have much to talk about,” He gestured for Baekhyun to follow. _

 

_ He stepped in front of him and led him to an almost seemingly secret door in the green house, and then up some porch steps to the glass protecting his gorgeous library within. Beautifully healthy vines fell from hanging pots twenty or so feet above, the ceiling reaching larger than any living room ceiling he’d ever seen before.  _

 

_ Kyungsoo walks into a stunning kitchen, sleek and earthy tones coming through in the form of dark cement counters and a black stove and old fashioned oven (a stone burning oven). _

 

_ He takes a small, stout teapot from its resting place on the stove and fills it with water from a vase with an odd mesh filter sitting in the middle of the glass somehow.  _

 

_ The walls of the open space of his kitchen were slabbed randomly, yet artfully, with shining black granite. Baekhyun follows the granite up until he sees the huge panes of more windows letting in light a small bit above the windows already resting above the stove, surrounded by granite.  _

 

_ “Your house is stunning,” Baekhyun compliments. Who knew this beauty was out in the middle of nowhere like this? _

 

_ “Why, thank you dear. It took quite a lot of help and time, but I enjoy how it is now and I don’t plan on changing much any time soon.” He lights the fire of the stove by snapping his fingers and turns back to Baekhyun with a smile.  _

 

_ They walk over to the sofa and sit. Not uncomfortable, just quiet. Nice. Content, or something close to that. _

 

_ “So, are you the Protector the raccoon told me about?” Baekhyun starts, watching Kyungsoo’s face carefully to see any conflict.  _

 

_ “Yes, I can hear you when you speak anywhere within this forest, so I know what was said. But yes I am.” Kyungsoo responded, getting up and walking back into the kitchen. _

 

_ “What exactly does that mean though?” Baekhyun watched him as he pulled a rack of jars out from somewhere under the island of his kitchen sink.  _

 

_ “Well, I’m what you might call a wizard of sorts I suppose. I mean I’m technically a witch but mortals like to complicate things for gender so, wizard would be appropriate too.” He walks back over to the sofa and set the rack on the table. The jars seem to be different flavors of dried tea leaves. ‘Innovative,’ Baekhyun thinks.  _

 

_ “Does being a wizard automatically make you a Protector though?”  _

 

_ “No, not necessarily. I’m only a Protector because I was formed here. I was made and am connected to these woods, these plants, along with the animals and creatures within.” He picks up a jar labeled ‘Jasmine’ and sniffs it through the mesh tied to the jar to protect it and then offers it to Baekhyun. “I was made to protect the woods from humane forces of harm which have led to a lot of extinction in other woods some of my friends currently protect. That’s why I’m called a ‘Protector,’ if something or someone tries to harm anything in the forests I protect, I feel it. I can hear their thoughts, hear them speak, I can feel who or what everything needs if they’re not getting it.” _

 

_ “Wow, can you hear my thoughts? Since I’m within your forests, I presume?” Baekhyun sniffs the Jasmine and nods, “Woah, that’s good! And what are you protecting them specifically from though? Is that why I was trapped yesterday?” _

 

_ Kyungsoo nods and stands up with the rack again. “No, humans, and no. I can not hear  _ your _ thoughts since you’re not really  _ apart  _ of the forest. I can sense where you are and your movements. I can hear everything you say, even if it's the lowest whisper, but I’ll never be able to read you mind.” He pushes the rack back below the island after taking the jasmine jar and setting it on the counter. “As for protecting, that’s a little more complicated. _

 

_ I mean, I don’t protect them from natural selection or natural processes like the food chain and predators. I protect them from humane influences, which consists of artificial selection, the cutting down and destroying of habitats, and artificial introductions and extractions of certain species. This is mainly to keep these species from being as affected by livestock farming and resource extraction.” He pulls the kettle from the stove as he begins to hear it bubble and snaps his fingers, extinguishing the fire within.  _

 

_ “As for the trapping of you yesterday, I have a spell casted on all the things I’m connected to within this forest. That stone you tried to sneak away is apart of that. This are made through my excess magic and are a direct contribution of my being flourishing here. It automatically traps the people trying to harm or disturb anything, whether they have a stag in the scope of their rifle, or in your case, try to steal a stone.  _

_ A contract is immediately called forth that requires you to service me because of your disturbance you’ve caused and if they refuse, I’m forced to kick them out of the forest and ban them from entering ever again. I wash their memory and replace it with a bad false memory that happened here so they don’t drag more stupid people here. It’s rough sometimes, but thanks for being cooperative.” Kyungsoo had already poured the water in with a small amount of the leaves in large ceramic mugs and was walking back over by the time he finished answering all of Baekhyun’s questions.  _

 

_ “But what do you do here to keep yourself busy? Is there anyone else out here?” Baekhyun looks around, not finding any pictures of a family or a loved one. Plain walls, pretty plants, and glass. That was pretty much it. _

 

_ “No, not really but people visit a couple times a year to keep me entertained and busy enough. To keep myself busy, I just take care of different aspects of the forest. Moving a species from one area to the next, cleaning different sources of water, helping introduce helpful relationships between specific plants and animals to help the environment further flourish.  _

 

_ Asides from that, I mix potions for growths as catalysts and reducers, for animals and me if we get sick with anything that's unnatural, due to pollution or littering from the city.” He blows on his mug and then takes a large sip. “You sure do ask a lot of questions. Can I ask you one?” _

 

_ Baekhyun sips his tea too and nods. He scratches at his nail beds after laying his mug gently back down on the coffee table.  _

 

_ “Is this real?” _

 

_ In that moment Baekhyun spirals. What could that possibly mean? He wants to ask that and then he looks up and Kyungsoo is laughing, light-heartedly.  _

 

_ “Dear, it’s 10:20! I think it’s time for you to go home,” The last thing he sees is Kyungsoo do an odd motion involving both hands and pulling air to his will after he himself lays his mug on the table. _

 

_ ❁ ❁ ❁ _

 

Baekhyun startles awake and gasps, immediately grabbing his phone to check the time.

 

10:20 A.M. right on the dot.

  
‘What the  _ hell _ just happened?’ Baekhyun thought before flopping back on his pillow, hearing Chanyeol and Jongdae shrieking outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long to update! jeez, i typed all during mock trial practice yesterday but i didnt get as far as i wanted lols! 
> 
> this is an ongoing fic and ill be updating it every monday and thursday before midnight EST or as close as i can get! (listen i meant to get done by eight but i was waY behind and i had gOALS OK I HAD A 5K GOAL) i sat my ass down in starbucks for two hours sooooo!!!! here it is!
> 
> thanks so much for readinggggg!!!! if u like it leave a kudos and a comment, it'd mean the world to me!!!!!! my curious cat is here and my twitter is here where i rant in sometimes german and about exo! 
> 
> lov u guys! mwah!!!! ♡ ♡ ♡

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading the first chapter!!!! it means so much to finally boot my fears to the curb and post my writing! please tell me how u like it in the comments, ill love u forever!!!! 
> 
> i hope to update this twice a week on mondays and thursdays, so please look forwards to it!!! this is unbeta'd so if theres any mistakes im sorry >:(( ! my b but thanks so much for reading!!!!
> 
> my twitter is @soffxiu where i rant about everything, especially how much i love exo! thanks katya for the writing advice !!!
> 
>  
> 
> lov u whoever reads this!!!!!!! see u on thursday!!!


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